THE ACUTE PAIN SERVICE - EFFECTIVE OR EXPENSIVE CARE

The effect of introducing an Acute Pain Service into a District Genera l Hospital was evaluated by conducting an audit of pain, emesis, sleep and satisfaction before and after inception. A total of 1518 question naires were collected, in which surgical patients had been asked to as sess their experience pre-and postoperatively. The introduction of an Acute Pain Service significantly (p < 0.0001) improved in-patient perc eption of pain relief upon return of consciousness after anaesthesia a nd for 2 days postoperatively, when compared with the experience befor e its inception. The incidence of emetic sequelae did not increase and both patient satisfaction (p < 0.001) and sleep pattern (p < 0.05) in hospital were significantly improved. An estimate of the economic ben efit suggests that the development of Acute Pain Services may be cost effective as well as providing an improved quality of service for pati ents undergoing surgery.